Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1887-11-03
MY RESURRECTION PRANK
BY GEORGE ii. TAYLOR.


of prospects. Having sown my wild
oats and obtained a medical diploma.
| had settled down in the little country
Town OF W--to work up practice.
1t was very hard to leave the activities
of the city and the prankish life of 8
student for the quiet of rural com
mum ty and the sedateness requisite fol-
impressing the rural mind with the be.
lief that ali medical skill was locked ur
in the particular knowledge box car.
ried on my shoulders But the little
town of W--,or that particular
section of it in which | had opened an
Office, seemed to my friends, and, there
fore. TO me, the only spot on earth not
already pre-empted by member of
the medical profession. So there ] was,
awaiting a ver.iication of the adage
that "all things come to those who
wat"
l had come very near having n case
that morning. A strange young wo-
man had come to the leading hotel of
the town the day before, had been taken
sick during the night. and. as there
seemed TO be nobody to guara ntee the
payment of her bill in case she died,
my profess onal competitors appeared
willing that | should have the job.
But the fates were agaist me, for rs
| assembled the stairs l was told that
the young woman was dead and her
body had been turned over to the ten
der mercies of the town coroner and
undertaken. Even then the coterie of
good and true" citizens picked up
around the bar-room door had viewed
the body" and retired to meet at some
indefinite period and declare that 1.-The
said person, TO the jury unknown
come to her death by some means 10
the jury unknown" the pauper coffin
was in the room and the pauper hearsc
stood at the door. | had been Il tile
d latory in responding TO the unex.
pected and very early morning call.
and | had lost the case. SO turned
on the stairway and lcisurely made my
way back to my office.
The busin ess of working mp prac-
tee" in mCdicin will at times dcpress
the most sanguinc temperament. and |
have said, having one OF those depressed
moods when Boraparte Laguee, the
ii. III
dropped in wearing Il very gruesoms
face and helped himself TO chair con-
tident ally near me.
Sick, Bony?" | asked; for the young
man, though looking the very picture
of phys cal vigor, seemed at loss how
to open conversation.
NAV" he answered. in Il tone Of
strong disgust; 'onIr sick O. tn 5
buryn' bus ness, and o that measly
small boss O. mine. DO you know what
he's gone in donc?'
"No.'
'Wcll. You know the old woman
NJ, ers that's been dyin' 50 long of
disease that none o you medicine fell
lows could make out?'
Yes, died last night, believer"
Yes, an ! let that worthless son O.
hers have coffin on tick an the boss
says he'll take the price of it out OF
my wages. Now, it wasn't moth
ing better than cheap paupcr coffin.
but | amt going to stand the loss if my
rich boss can't an he's going to have
that coffin back if / have TO dig for it,
Im going over to the cemetery tonight
for it, an didn't know but YOU wall
ted II good 'diSSect' and would give me
q hand. She'd make n stunnin' dis
sect, cause nobody knows what she
died of. I'm u little nervous about
goln over there alone. an thought if
you'd help me get the collin I'd help
you get the body"
Here was a chance to chase away
melancholy y. and hadn't had lark.
since | left college. If was found
out it would destroy all hopes of prac-
tice in W. to be sure, but that didn't
mean much, cons .dcrimg how slight Il
fabric those hopes were built on any
way, and it would furnish me with n
reasonable excuse TO my friends for
quitting The apparently barren field
they had selected for me. Besides.
was there no hope of unearthing
great medical secret that might hand
one name down TO posterity?
Added to this there would be great
satisfaction in helping Bony to thrust
that cheap coffin under the nose of the
craven spirited Worms. the undertaken,
and daring him TO l. SIX his own repu-
tnlion by exposing Bony to the law.
Bony's revenge might be at the cx-
pense Of his situation, but it would be
rich; and it might have the contrary
effect of compelling Worms to keep
the man and treat him decently in Or
der 10 keep his own meanness out of
the public ear.
Such arguments as these only need
the natural reaction they created in a
depressed volatile temperament to
make them convincing. and midnight
saw Bony and l digg ng away like
human ghouls at the newest grave in
the pOtters' field of the town cemetery.
That is. m dnight night have seen us
If she had carried her lantern with her,
but Mrs. Myers had died in 1.-THE dark
O. the MOON" and we for greater pri-
vacy had gone without light.
We raised the coffin and its contents
and by devious paths and byways bore
it TO the back room of my Office and
there turned on little light.
The wrong coffin, by" was the
ejaculation of Bony, finished with an
oath; and he dropped with half-par-
alyzed limpness into the nearest chair.
Then, recovering from his mortiiica.
ton. he went on: "Thats the coffin
what we used for the gal at the hotel ~
Here was n pretty 60. The coffin
was of no use to Bony; and the I'M
known friends of the girl would in all